A Pirate of Her Own
by CrimsonLipsVic
Summary: Chapter 1 not even finished yet, but it's slowly getting there. Mainly I put myself as Victoria, hence my penname, and it's how I would like to be in Pirates. sighs


**Chapter I**

** A Pirate's Life For Me**

****  
  
"Bo'sun, you yellow-bellied land lubber! The rumors of the gold being taken. It was you who be spreading them!" Vic said in a growling sort of voice.  
"Aye, Captain, 'twas me, 'cause the rumors are true! I went to the cave myself! All of it was gone!" Vic's slave and fellow playmate, Bo'sun said in his native Caribbean accent.  
"You went behind my back, boy. That be mutiny on my ship! It be a duel to the death, a captain and her first mate, now. Aye, but remember, you're crossing blades with Captain Victoria Radcliffe of the Gilded Sabbath!"  
Out of its scabbard, Vic took out her wooden sword, poorly crafted, as did Bo'sun. They circled around, not taking their eyes off of the other. Bo'sun slashed at her, near missing her arm in which she held her sword, as she blocked his blow. She returned with a counter attack, parrying gracefully as though she had done so all of her ten years that she had lived. Bo'sun's nostrils flared with false anger. He knew that she had an advantage over him. Although they were the same age, he was much larger than she and couldn't maneuver as quickly as she could. Vic was strong for her gender and her age, and she could have easily thrust the wooden sword into him as he could her.  
They circled again, this time with more vengeance than before, not as though they were playing. A few more parries and dodges and Bo'sun found himself on the ground, the impostor sword at his throat. Vic had won, as she had intended to do.  
"I guess we both know what this means. You're a dead man, boy. Ta,"Vic said as she pretended to stab him, the sword gliding between his side and his arm. She stepped on him, showing her dominance over her first mate. Vic then gave a fake pirate laugh, tilting her head up to let it bellow through the salty port air, while Bo'sun lay there motionless. "I told ya never to cross blades with Captain Vic, the most feared pirate in all the Spanish Main!"  
"Victoria Anne Radcliffe!" said an angered yet familiar voice from behind. Vic slowly spun around to see her mother, irate and breath heaving as she stomped toward the two of them. Vic knew she was in trouble again, the third time in a matter of two days. She looked down at Bo'sun, a look of fear in his eyes. He knew he was to be in the kitchen stringing beans for that evening's supper. He would get a beating for the lack of attending to his duties.  
Winnifred Radcliffe was a beautiful woman, unique in every aspect of her beauty. She had been the pride of many a suitor. If only she hadn't been the town whore. She couldn't keep a man by her side for over a month. She expected too much from them, but they kept coming to her for more. She was deemed the siren of the land. Victoria hated it.  
"Bo'sun, you may clean yourself up and attend to your normal duties. I'll deal with you later. As for you, Cap'n Vic, I'd like to speak to you NOW," Winnifred said glaring a Victoria, an eyebrow twitching from anger. Bo'sun stood, handing the wooden sword back to Victoria, bowing to his mistresses before he left.  
"What have I told you about this!?" Winnifred said as she ripped the wooden sword from Vic's hand, leaving behind numerous splinters. She threw it to the ground, the blade digging into the grass. "Walk with me, darling. I need to tell you something I ought to have told you a while ago."  
"Yes, Mother," Vic replied slipping off her scabbard and taking off the red bandana around her head, soaked with perspiration. She knew she was in for another dreadful talk about why she shouldn't do the things she does.  
"I do not want you playing pirates! I've told you time and time again!" Winnifred said almost in tears. "Your father, that bastard, was a pirate. I don't want you to have anything to do with the likes of him!"  
"But what did Daddy do to make you so angry with him?" Vic said, but then wished she hadn't. A gasp escaped through her mother's full pouting lips, similar to her own. Winnifred dropped to the muddy ground onto her knees, weeping as the mud seeped through her dress to her petticoat. All Victoria could do was look down upon her with sad eyes. She wouldn't cry, though. She never cried.  
The minutes passed as Winnifred knelt on the ground, weeping a long and well needed one. Oh, how she longed to see him once more. He was all she ever thought about and she couldn't hide it any longer. She had to tell her daughter about her father, although she wouldn't speak him name. She was too ashamed of it.  
Winnifred pulled Victoria to the ground to kneel with her in the mud. Vic liked getting dirty, so she wouldn't mind. Forcing tears back, she started her tale of how they had met in Tortuga, how he had wooed her for months, and how he had taken her to bed then left the next morning only to find a couple of gold coins on the pillow next to her. Winnie told her about the promises he had made, to be loyal and true to her, how he would visit her from many a destination, and how, one day, would marry her. It never happened, Winnie told her. His promises were ill and unkempt, as were every word spoken from his devil tongue.  
"That is why I don't want you playing pirates," Winnifred said to Victoria after her reminiscence of her long lost love. Victoria blinked with understanding, but rebellion. "Please say that you changed your opinion on pirates." Winnifred gazed into her daughter's eyes, blank yet so full of wonder and shame.  
"No, Mother. I fear not," Victoria said as she stared into her mother's hurt eyes. Winnie rose form the ground the mud on her knees caked on, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
"I can't stand to look at you," Winnie stated through frowning lips as she stormed away toward the house.  
"Pirate is in my blood, Mother! I can't hide it any longer. Now I know where I belong!" Victoria screamed back at her. Why had she kept the truth hidden for such a long time? It angered Vic to think about it. She rushed to the house, passing Winnie, who was in a frenzy of tears, and ran to her room to pack. She was leaving. She couldn't stand her any longer. Winnifred was such a weakling, crying at any sign of negative emotion. Victoria would never be like her mother, needing a man to get where she wanted. She would never cry or cringe at anything, not the prick of a rose's thorn, nor the obscenities that were created from those around. She would be the one to create the obscenities.  
  
The night wind was calm which meant great sailing for Vic. With a small burlap sack of food and necessities on her back, a canteen of grog at her belt, and a smile of eagerness on her face, she was set to leave her land loving mother forever and find her sea faring father. All she had to do was wake Bo'sun and have him ready to leave and she would be free from prissy dresses and the dreaded aristocratic ways of Port Royal.  
She ran up to the slave's quarters where Bo'sun slept soundly until she came to wake him. The whipping that Lady Radcliffe had given him convinced him to go with Vic out to sea, away from slavery, where he could be an individual. It had been a dream of his since he had known that he wasn't in control of himself, to be free from the wickedness of slavery. Vic would soon make his dream come true.  
She shook him awake, forgetting about the scars on his back from the lashing he had gotten early in the evening. He trembled in pain for a brief moment before opening his eyes. He saw Vic, dressed in man's dress with knickers and a ruffled shirt, her bright red hair tied back in a tail at the base of her neck. For a female she was quite clever for not wearing a dress out to sea. Very clever indeed.  
"Come on," Vic whispered motioning Bo'sun to arise from his bantam straw bed as she descended down the steps. He followed quietly, so as not to wake Lady Radcliffe, who was indeed sound asleep, but with a slight creak in the floor, she would awake and they would be caught. She was a very light sleeper. The two of them tip-toed through the hall toward the front door, passing Winnifred's room, where slept her and a strange new lover of four days. Vic stopped to watch as their bodies moved with every breath, revolting as it was to think that her mother had slept with seven men in the past month. She wondered if this man knew about it.  
In disgust, Vic went back to sneaking out of the house, a small knapsack in her hand. They had so little space to cover, yet it was so far away, just enough for their hearts to race with excitement and anticipation. Just ahead of them was the door that would lead them to freedom and adventure, the door that would lead them away from damn Port Royal, damn slavery, and damn whorish mothers. With every step they took so lightly, they felt more free and more excited. Then, then finally reached the door, and with a slight creak, it was opened and they were outside, in the fresh, salty sea air, in the wonderful pale moonlight, casting its rays upon Bo'sun and Vic as though it had never shone before. They were finally free.  
In disgust, Vic went back to sneaking out of the house, a small knapsack in her hand. They had so little space to cover, yet it was so far away, just enough for their hearts to race with excitement and anticipation. Just ahead of them was the door that would lead them to freedom and adventure, the door that would lead them away from damn Port Royal, damn slavery, and damn whorish mothers. With every step they took so lightly, they felt more free and more excited. Then, then finally reached the door, and with a slight creak, it was opened and they were outside, in the fresh, salty sea air, in the wonderful pale moonlight, casting its rays upon Bo'sun and Vic as though it had never shone before. They were finally free.  
In the shadows, they ran toward the dock, so no one that was awake at the ungodly hour would see them. Victoria was quite well known in Port Royal, and someone would surely tell her mother that she ventured off at night with her slave. It was said that it takes a village to raise a child, and in Port Royal that saying was true.  
The dock was quiet and void of people. Not even the navy was at the posts, guarding the ships and vessels. It was the perfect chance for Vic and Bo'sun to commandeer a rowboat and set off for sea, to find freedom and father.  
By some very odd sixth sense, vic knew her father was still alive and quite well. She was determined to meet him and know his ways of being a person of the sea. All her life Vic knew she needed a fatherly figure, someone to teach her to be herself, although it wasn't at all the right in society for a female to act independently, especially as a child. It was an impulse in Vic that kept her strong and independent, probably the impulse she inherited from her father, for her mother wasn't in the least bit like her. Vic needed to know the person she was resembled of. She needed to know, and soon... To Be Continued 


End file.
